An appeals court in Washington ruled Monday that the Pentagon can temporarily mandate that all reporters visiting its iconic five-sided building be accompanied by an official escort, staying an earlier ruling in the legal fight between the New York Times and the Defense Department over press access and First Amendment rights.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in its ruling that the Pentagon had “supported” its argument that requiring escorts for journalists on site “furthers important national security interests.” The restriction will continue while the Pentagon appeals an earlier ruling by a lower court that found parts of its press restrictions to be unconstitutional.
The Times sued the Defense Department in December over a new press policy that asked journalists who wished to work out of its building to sign a policy that prohibited them from soliciting information not authorized for release by the government.
The Washington Post was among dozens of outlets that walked out of the Pentagon in October rather than agree to the policy, which mainstream publications and press freedom groups condemned. The policy has become one of the most prominent examples of the Pentagon and Trump administration’s efforts to restrict the press in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Monday’s ruling marks a temporary win for the Pentagon following several losses in court in the case.
Senior U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled in March that the Pentagon’s press policy violated the First and Fifth Amendment rights of the Times and one of its reporters, Julian E. Barnes. Senior officials at the Pentagon responded with a revised policy that would have, among other things, moved journalists from their dedicated workspace inside the main building to an external “annex” in a nearby library and conference center.
In April, the judge ruled that the Pentagon violated his original order to reestablish access for Times journalists, determining that the Defense Department’s “interim” policy unconstitutionally bypassed his previous stipulations. The Pentagon appealed to the D.C. circuit, which on Monday stayed Friedman’s earlier ruling.
The Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell said late Monday that it welcomed the latest court ruling. “Despite what many in the media have told you, the Department’s policy has never been about limiting journalism — it is about safeguarding classified information that protects American lives,” Parnell wrote in a statement on X.
Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said Monday’s ruling “only grants an emergency stay pending a decision on the Pentagon’s appeal, which we will oppose vigorously.”
He added: “The New York Times will continue to seek resolution in this case and argue for the right of journalists to freely cover the American military, so the public can understand the actions it is undertaking in their name and with their tax dollars.”
Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the district court’s central holding remains in effect. “Any effort by the Pentagon to deny credentials based on reporting the department sees as unfavorable is inconsistent with the First Amendment and cannot stand,” Rottman said.
The Pentagon has taken other action to restrict press reporting on the U.S. military.
Last week, Parnell fired the ombudsman of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, which is partly funded by the Defense Department but has operated for decades without Pentagon interference in editorial decisions. The ombudsman is charged by Congress with safeguarding the editorial independence of the paper.
The ombudsman’s termination came three months after the Pentagon denounced the paper as “woke” and said it would be overhauled.
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